MEMPHIS – Both UCF and Memphis came into Saturday's American Athletic Conference contest aware of recent history. The Knights and the Tigers have been in tight battles the last three times they squared off in 2017 and 2018, but UCF came out on top each time. The 2020 version of UCF and Memphis went the other way.
The Tigers came back from down 21 points early in the third quarter to win 50-49, as UCF sophomore Daniel Obarski's field goal attempt from 40 yards went wide with just 19 seconds left on the clock.
The UCF (2-2, 1-2) offense was on fire all game long, totaling 798 yards, just 20 shy of a program record, but the last drive was halted on a third-down pass from sophomore Dillon Gabriel went just out of reach of sophomore receiver Jaylon Robinson's hands.
It was a record night for Gabriel, who destroyed UCF's single-game record for passing yards with 601 in the game. The previous best was 497 by Ryan Schneider in 2003. It was the second most passing yards in a game in all FBS this season, as Gabriel went 35-of-49 with five passing touchdowns and rushed for another score with 49 rushing yards.
A trio of UCF receivers went over 100 yards on the day, as Marlon Williams had 13 catches for 191 yards and a score, Jaylon Robinson grabbed 10 balls for 173 yards and two touchdowns and Ryan O'Keefe had four catches for 175 yards and a score.
It was the first time UCF had three players go over 100 yards receiving in a game.
O'Keefe caught a 93-yard touchdown pass from Gabriel that marked the longest reception in program history.
While the Knights remedied their false start issues from earlier this season, they still suffered from 10 penalties for 96 yards on the day and gave up 703 yards of offense to Memphis.
The Tigers (2-1, 1-1) were led by quarterback Brady White who finished with 486 yards and six passing touchdowns, throwing two to Calvin Austin, who finished with nine catches for 151 yards.
White's 4-yard touchdown pass to Austin with 1:08 left to play in the game proved to be the winner for Memphis.
The Knights will next return home to host Tulane next weekend. UCF and the Green Wave are scheduled to kickoff at 2 p.m. from the Bounce House with coverage on ESPN2 and FM 96.9 The Game.
From Coach Heupel
"You prepare with urgency. You prepare the same way every week to put yourself in the best position to go lay it on the line. In sports you want to try to ensure that it's going to go the right way when you get that opportunity. The reality in sports is it doesn't always go your way, but you can look your brothers in the face and know that you did everything to put yourself in the best position when you got that opportunity."
From Marlon Williams
"It's hard. We just want to finish every game on top, on top on the scoreboard, and we didn't do that today. Any loss is tough. It doesn't matter how many yards you get. If I would have had two yards today and we won, I would have been happy."
Notes
• UCF lost to Memphis for just the second time, snapping a 13-game win streak against the Tigers and now lead the series, 13-2.
• UCF has lost back-to-back games for the first time since losing three straight contests to end the 2016 season.
• The 1,501 combined total yards from UCF and Memphis set a new single-game record for a UCF game.
• UCF scored 30 or more points for the 40th time in its last 42 games, scored 40 or more points for the 26th time in the last 42, and scored 24 or more points for the 43rd consecutive game.
• Dillon Gabriel eclipsed 5,000 career passing yards, doing so by averaging over 300 yards per game in just 17 games played. He ranks eighth all-time at UCF with 5,409.
• Jaylon Robinson went over 100 yards receiving for the fourth straight game, which is tied for the second longest streak in program history, trailing only Ted Wilson's five consecutive games in 1985.
• Marlon Williams and Robinson went over 100 yards receiving in the same game for the third time this season, which set a new UCF record for having two players over 100 yards in a game.
• Richie Grant forced a fumble for the sixth time in his career, which is tied for seventh all-time in UCF history.
